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If Ali hadnt "rope-a-doped" Foreman he might not be in the condition he is in now. If the fight wasnt somewhere as corrupt, it probably would have gone a different way (the allegations of Foreman being drugged, the loosening of the ropes...)
Sonny Liston threw both fights against him...(the second, nobody could argue about. Ali wasnt a stupid man. Do you think he didnt know that the punch in the second fight didnt land? - Yes Ive heard his claims that the punch was so fast the camera missed it... that deserves to be treated with the same respect as the average promo a professional wrestler in WWF makes)
He struggled against Norton and Frazier, both of who Foreman dismissed.
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Ali was a good boxer, who looked slick and menancing when he was at his best... but to me he is someone who conned the world into believe his own hype. He was undoubtably brave, and had a good chin... but he relied on speed and later in his career when he lost that and gained bulk, he wasnt an elite fighter. He took too much punishment, didnt have genuine KO power himself, and was in my opinion pretty classless (yes, he was lyrical, but most of the time he used his eloquence to taunt and insult opponents in a pretty childish / playground manner)
He's probably in the top 10 heavyweights in his peak, but he was below his peak the majority of his career (same as Tyson) and that places him a level below the real greats to me.
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To me, the achievments of Foreman's career (the two years or so he was unbeatable at the start of his career... and then the KO of Moorer) are far superior to Ali. At the same time, Foreman grew as a person, he tempered to some degree the brooding, violent personality of his youth to become a more positive person. Ali never developed as a person to me...
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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